Over the past five quarters, Columbia Falls home prices have been diverse. In most square footage ranges, the time to buy was over the winter (see chart). The 1,000-1,249 segment shows the most price consistency. The 1,250-1,499 range shows an upward trend, if you write off the winter segment. 1,500-1,749 nears $170, migrating northward since winter – and it looks amazingly similar to the same segment history of Kalispell (see Aug. 29 column chart). 1,750-1,999 almost hit $200 in the spring, and it’s consistently above the same segment history of Kalispell. Across the 1,000-2,000 segments and in between (plus the 2,500-foot segment), the recent quarter has ranged between $170 and $185. Comparing quarters year over year, this most recent quarter shows higher prices in 7 out of 9 of the segments one year ago.
Richard Dews is CEO of Glacier Flathead Real Estate, a Flathead-based real estate software and services company.